No Surprise: Tiger’s Popularity Plunges

Tiger Woods' popularity is plummeting by record amounts, according to the latest results of the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.

Woods admitted to "infidelity" Friday. His "favorable" rating dropped to 33% in the latest poll conducted this week vs. 85% from his last poll in June 2005. His "unfavorable" rating, meanwhile, surged to 57% from only 8% four years ago.

Woods posted the highest popularity rating in poll history - 88% - when Gallup first measured him in 2000. The 52-point swing is the largest drop between consecutive measurements since Gallup began tracking it in 1992, said Jeffrey Jones, managing editor of the Gallup Poll. The 55-point falloff from his high to low point matches that of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2008.

"For many years, Woods was the most positively rated person we rated. Now he ranks worse than a lot of the politicians we measure," Jones said. "The drop is definitely unprecedented."

The national poll of 1,025 U.S. adults was conducted Friday through Sunday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Other results:

- Women took a harsher view of Woods. His unfavorable rating was 8 points higher among women than men: 61% vs. 53%, Also, 67% of women said they were "disappointed" by him vs. 54% of men.

- Those with the highest education levels, as well as those age 65 and older, were the most likely to be "disappointed" (more than 70.

- Woods has been in self-imposed exile since his Nov. 27 car crash. His plea for privacy while he tries to repair his marriage to wife Elin finds support - 72% say he "should not" publicly answer questions about the crash or his alleged mistresses.

- Of those polled, 19% said they would have a "less favorable" opinion of companies that use Woods as an endorser.